Gary Cahill Hopeful on Fitness for Switzerland Clash
England and Chelsea defender Gary Cahill remains on course to recover from an ankle injury that will force him to miss training on Friday in time to face Switzerland on 8 September.
The 28-year-old limped out of the 1-0 friendly win over Norway and had an ice pack applied to his right ankle but manager Roy Hodgson has allayed fears over his availability for the European Championship qualifier.
Cahill missed the whole of England's training session at St George's Park with the complaint but the Chelsea centre-back has confirmed he is set to be available for the trip to Basel.
"I'm hoping to train tomorrow and if I train then I'll be fit for the game," he said.
The former Bolton Wanderers player picked up the blow in Chelsea's 6-3 win over Everton at Goodison Park and fears were rife over his fitness for England's opening qualifier after he was replaced by Phil Jagielka at Wembley.
Although England limped to a narrow win over Norway on Wednesday, victory did end a run of four games without a win and Cahill expects the team to continue their gradual improvement when their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign gets underway.
"We won the [Norway] game first and foremost," he said. "First half I felt we dominated possession, dominated the game, but second half they made it difficult. Of course we can do better.
"Just speaking from myself there were a couple of changes in the back four so it's new but we kept a clean sheet so there were positives as well as things we can work on.
"We bounced back in terms of results the other night and we've got a huge game on Monday [against Switzerland], which everyone knows is going to be very, very tough so it's a chance to bounce back in the games that really matter.
"No disrespect to other teams it's one of the hardest games in the group and being away from home adds to that. We've worked hard in training and we'll go out there are give it our best shot."
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.